Holi Day

     It's Holi day, where everyone throws colorful dyes and water at you. My partner got hit by water with red coloring as we left Eden Hospital, but I got home unscathed. Our driver, Rahul, got hit as well as he waited for us outside Eden Hospital. It was nice to see how everyone is having fun with colorful dye and water. It reminds me of a similar day in Southeast Asia called "San Juan" where people throw water to get everyone wet.

    The twins are doing fine. I fed our little girl today, and my partner fed our little boy. It was an amazing feeling seeing them yesterday, and then feeding them today. They are still very tiny and fragile.

    Our boy won't be ready to leave NICU until maybe this Saturday. Our girl, on the other hand, could leave by Thursday, but first, we need to buy pre-NAN formula before we could take her home. In our hunt to get a preemie formula, we basically wasted most of our day yesterday trying to look for a store that sells pre-NAN. We went to Citywalk and DLF, and most shops we ended up going to only sold regular formula. Anyway, the nurse today told us to go to a pharmacy as they will likely have the pre-NAN formula there. We'll have to buy it tomorrow when the shops open. Ugh!

    Sleepless nights, here we come! Other challenges ahead, bring it on! :)

Our twins holding hands

    

Vernix and Lanugo

Finally, here they are! Twin 1 is a girl (4 lbs), and twin 2 is a boy (3 lbs). Oh and by the way, their names are NOT Vernix and Lanugo... LOL...

Twin 1 says "Where are daddy and papa?"

After doing a bit of research, we learned that twin 2 has vernix (red skin coloring as the baby starts to breath air) and lanugo (the cream cheese-like coating on the baby's skin to protect him/her from harsh amniotic fluid). Twin 1 looked very clean, though.

The pediatrician predicts that one or both twins might be out of NICU in 10-14 days. We pray that our tiny twin 2 will be fine despite being smaller compared to his sister.

Twin 2 practicing his flamenco moves.

Today we changed our flights, and I'm still shocked how airlines practically milk you sweat and blood so that they get a huge profit from changing the flight. It doesn't make sense why the fee to change a flight is almost as expensive as a new ticket. In the end, we did buy a new ticket and although the original ticket was refundable, we still have to pay a $300 penalty for canceling the original flight.

We went to a Baby Care class last night. Like what our friends were saying, it was kinda useless! I did enjoy it a bit as the speaker was kinda funny (she had 6 children) and some of her advise was common sensical and helpful.

Well, New Delhi, here we come! :)

Lost in cyberspace

It looks like I lost my previous blog. Anyway, I'll update with some pics as they become available.

Meanwhile, our prediction based on the Nuchal Translucency (NT) scan on week 12 in my previous blog was proven to be correct. Based on the "angle of the dangle" evidence, we were very certain to have a girl (i.e. 80% chance), but the other scan had a 68% chance of being a boy (which was also fairly high chance). Nevertheless, we got it right! :)

The twins when they were week 5!

Baby shower pics

Cutest cupcakes ever!

We are very grateful to our small circle of friends for organizing and attending our baby shower. For those who were not able to attend, thanks for sending the gifts. The twins will love all the goodies. Thanks everyone! We'll have a meet the twins day when we come back. Cheers!

Gifts for the twins

32-wk update, but wait, there is more...

Alright, we were so glad to see a somewhat "normal" scan and summary report for the twins yesterday. Our SM (GT) is doing great, and the twins are developing as expected (but see below). Today, we got an email informing us that GT had a "leak" and so she was admitted to the hospital. Aaarghhh!!!!!! Is that normal????

Anyway, GT is in bed rest, so we are hoping that she is fine, and that the twins will stay put for up to 39 weeks (yes, our wishful thinking). Realistically, it's probably not going to be 39 weeks as many twin births I've read on the blogosphere posted by many new parents have happenned in 38 weeks or less. We are praying that GT and the twins will be okay. Eagerly awaiting for an update....

Having read many blogs and information online, we should be taking the new USG results with confidence that our twins will be fine. However, it's also very hard not to worry. It appears that twin 1 (in cephalic position) is really doing well and developing on target based on the gestational age. On the other hand, twin 2 (in breech position) started to lag behind twin 1. Our 28-wk report showed that both twins were practically at the same gestational age, but lo and behold, this 32-wk report showed otherwise. Twin 2 is in essence about 2 weeks behind, especially the abdominal circumference (AC) and femur length (FL). Twin 2's biparietal diameter (BPD) is within the bottom scale of the standard deviation, but still markedly lower in measurement compared with twin 1. The only relief we could muster from this recent report is that the head circumferences of both twins were only three millimeters different. Needless to say, we are concerned for our smaller twin.

A friend of mine today told me that she has heard of twin pregnancies where one twin that is more mature was delivered naturally, while the less mature twin remained in the womb until it matured further and then born weeks later. This is an unlikely scenario for us because a C-section will be done to our SM when the time comes. Oh well, it's a nice story. Please, please stay put as long as possible. Thinking of you, and praying that GT will recover soon from the "leak".

Truth, Lies, and an ABC Australia's Video -- Indian Surrogacy for same-sex or unmarried couples and single parents

I share my disgust with ABC Australia's Lateline (as reported by Kerry Brewster) due to the pathetic quality of the reporting, factual mistakes, and misinformation about the topic. Amani (Meg) has posted the link containing a video and article about it. Her post dissects the many mistakes on the issue. You can also access the ABC webpage by clicking here.

As per Amani's post, Indian surrogacy law has not changed since it was passed many years ago. It is absolutely legal for anyone to commission surrogacy in India; however, in December 2012, the guideline for obtaining a visa to commission surrogacy was changed to a medical visa. Before this, intended parent(s) could do it with just a tourist visa. The problem for single parent(s), same-sex couples and unmarried straight couples is that the new guideline to get a medical visa for surrogacy excludes them. The medical visa for surrogacy now requires intended parents to be a man and a woman, married for at least two years. In essence, the Indian Ministry of Bigotry Affairs has restricted surrogacy for straight married couples beginning 2013. This is very unfortunate! It shows the struggles many same-sex couples have to go through to be a family. It also now discriminates against unmarried straight couples.

There is now uncertainty for same-sex couples, single parents or straight couples on a tourist visa who have already commissioned surrogacy in 2012. It is a real concern, but as far as I know through the blogosphere and info I got from the web, no one (yet) has encountered any problems bringing their baby or twins back home to their respective countries. Yeah sure, FRRO will look down upon single parents or gay couples. FRRO will berate and say awful things about the parent during the interview process. This is expected -- it's a power trip! It's righteous thinking! You just need to take it in and be humble. One blogger who went through the process in January 2013 said, "just smile", and as soon as you get the visa, be glad it is all over. Don't look back!

One thing that you need to know is that once your child or children have the passport(s), there is no lawful reason why FRRO would refuse an exit visa to a bona fide citizen of a sovereign country.  It will be a diplomatic war between your country and the Indian government if FRRO refuses to give an exit visa to your child or children holding legitimate passport(s). Also, in reference to the factually incorrect statement on ABC video/article, you are not in breach of Indian surrogacy law -- there is no law in India banning same-sex or unmarried straight couples or single parents from commissioning surrogacy. As far as I know, there is no law regarding visa requirements for surrogacy other than the recent guideline. Don't take my word as anything could change in India, but rather do your research and find out the truth.

The current ICMR ART Bill is just a bill and not a law, and in fact, the bill permits single parents, same-sex couples and unmarried straight couples to commission surrogacy. Read my previous blogs on the ICMR ART Bill and about the FRRO meeting with the clinics. Bigots are spreading the misinformation.

Don't let the lies and misinformation instill fear on you. Bigotry will not prevail!